Label
Type the text you want to appear above or to the side of the textarea box. This is also the value of the text displayed in the FormBoss Result Browser and Email messages.

The label field supports local PHP variables if they are wrapped in PHP tags and echo 'd out as: <?php echo $val; ?>

Please note that only local variables are supported, $_SESSION variables must be bound to local variables in the PHP Top Code or PHP Head Code section first.

Helper Text
This text displays on the bottom of the field item. By default, the text is 7pt and light grey #888888. You can change the elements color in the FormBoss editor, but the font size must be changed in the jobs formpage.css file.

Name/Value
This element is set by FormBoss automatically, though it is recommended to change this value if you decide to display Javascript validation messages, as the 'identifying' text of the error is the value of this field.

This value is displayed by default if no 'Label' attribute is assigned to the element. For technical users, this element name is in fact the same as the Name/Value html form attribute of this element.

You will also notice that if you change the name of this field, the id attribute to the immediate right of this element also updates with the same value. This is because in most cases you should keep the same value for both elements--however, you can use a different value, simply type in the id field separately.

Naming Convention Note: The only valid punctuation for the Name/Value and id fields is the underscore _. Use of any other character will cause the form to fail.

id
By default is assigned the same value as the Name/Value element, though you can change this to a more field specific value. Not necessary for most applications. For technical users, this is the id attribute of the field item.

Default Value
Any pre-assigned values for this element should be typed into this box. At run-time this value is automatically populated into the field item.

Rows
In character units, the height of the field item. Default of 5.

Columns
In character units, the width of the field item. Default of 40.

Wrapper Class Name
Every field element in FormBoss is wrapped in either a LI or DIV element for Sortable or Free Form page types, respectively. When you place a value in this box it becomes the class="" attribute for that wrapper. Because a wrapper encompass both the input element and wrapper, you can use this value to show and hide sections of your form.

Fielded Data Name
The name of the array element this field will populate in the 'fielded_data_array_value' array. This is a specialized use item and can be ignored in most cases, as you would have to custom code php to use the output of this array.

TinyMCE Editor
Adds a TinyMCE Rich Text Editor to the text area.

Select from three TinyMCE preset configurations:
Simple Editor - Provides basic text controls.
Text Heavy - Provides ~13 text editing tools plus a slew of editing control such as undo.
FromBoss Style - Creates the same suit of text editing tools used in the FormBoss Editor.

* Please be aware that at this time the Display Field Count validation property has no effect on text areas that use TinyMCE. You can still set a maximum character count, but this value will only be validated at the time of the forms submission via PHP, not JavaScript.

** You can only use 1 style of TinyMCE text editor per form page. The text area that comes first in the form will determine which TinyMCE text editor configuration is used.

Extra Attribute(s) JS Style Etc
Add code to your field item by typing it into this box. Code can be JavaScript event code such as:
onclick="alert('Be sure to use Letters only');"

External Library dependent code as in:
onclick="Effect.Fade(this, { duration:.2});" (Prototype/Scriptaculous shown here)

Or Style definitions as in:
style="color:#cdcdcd;"

What's important to note is that the code you create here effects the field element, not the container it sits in. To edit the field container, you need to reference the field name prefixed with 'fb_fld-', as in a text box with an ID of text1 would be referenced like: 'fb_fld-text1'

Field Style Properties:
Text Color- Click into the box to load the color selector. Drag your cursor over the saturation in the main box to select the color intensity, or drag the hue slider to change color.

Font Size(px)
Type a number in this box to change the font size of the element.

Label Position
Display the field label, if set, on top of or to the left of the field element.

Field Initially Visible?
Determines if the form element is visible when the page first loads. Please note that this logic always resets on page load, that is, if a user goes back one page where an element was previously shown it will be invisible again.

Easy Toggle?
Checking this box means FormBoss will automatically handle the logic needed to perform the opposite action you set in Then... and If This Field Is: properties. For example, if you set the action of an item to be 'Show', if the condition needed to make this show acton happen is revoked, the opposite action will automatically happen for you. So, if the condition is the text '1' must be set in a text box in order to show a second text field, if this 1 is removed or changed, the second text box will be hidden again.

In general we want to keep this box checked, though if you wanted to force a field to always show after an action then leave it unchecked.

Field Validation Method
New in Build 717, this option allows us to set the behavior of how conditional items will be validated when hidden.

By default, when we set an item to be hidden and required FormBoss will still process the invisible item as if it were shown to the user. With this new option we can override this behavior to tell FormBoss that any item that's hidden and set with Field Only Validates When Visible should, as the option name states, only trigger validation errors when visible.

The trick with this is from a security standpoint it's possible to create a script that exploits this behavior such that no fields would be required. However, the FormBoss implementation is such that only fields set with the property are able to be 'bypassed' via normal validation methods.

The end result then is if we're building a form that needs to have required fields, but those fields are hidden unless a user triggers a condition to show them, to enable this mode for that field, and of course any others that require it.

By default FormBoss will still validate all fields unless told otherwise. This maximized security while providing a way to create smarter forms.

Event Trigger
This is the JavaScript event that will be scanned for and then acted upon if activated. Some events are better than others for the various tasks you have. For example, the onClick event is perfect for Checkboxes, whereas the onKeyUp event is perfect for text boxes where a user needs to enter a specific value. Experiment with these values and have fun!

Caution! You may run into a situation where you build a form that enables the event trigger on a specific field, then remove that field later on without updating the Event Trigger's 'binding' to that element.

If this happens your forms validation will break, along with other potential issues.

The solution is always make sure that when we enable an event trigger for an element, that field exists on the form.

Animation?
While not always needed, if you want you can add animation using Prototype JS to your events. The upside of this is your forms may have a more professional appearance, the downside is the extra bandwidth needed to send the Prototype JS library over the wire to run the animations. However, if you are already using animation or have included the Prototype JS library for other purposes, this bandwidth cost is obviously negated, so animate away!

If This Field Is:
This is the core property of the Conditional Processing logic. In most cases you will only want to show and hide fields if a specific condition is met, this option allows us to set that condition. As with the Event Trigger property, some options only make sense in the proper context. For example, the top Value Comparison grouping is best served in combination with text and select fields, whereas the Field State options of Checked and Unchecked only make sense for checkboxes.

It is also important to note that FormBoss will attempt to cast comparison values set as INT and FLOAT values to their respective native types.

This Value...
When we set the If This Field is property, with the exception of the two Field State checks of Checked and unchecked, we typically want to compare against some value. It is in this text box that we set that comparison value. FormBoss will automatically attempt to detect FLOAT and INT values when testing against GREATER THAN and LESS THAN checks.

Then:
If the condition set in If This Field Is and This Value... passes, this is the action we will perform. Please note that is Easy Toggle? is enabled, we will automatically perform the opposite when the check fails.

This Field Or...
When we set an event, comparison, and action, the last step is to tell FormBoss which fields to act upon. It is in this field and is close relative, This Wrapper Class, that we set this field or fields.

As you build your form FormBoss will automatically track the Name/Value properties of the elements on that form page and then present them to you in list format in this field. Thus, all eligible form fields will be displayed in this select item, the one you select will become the field acted upon.

Finally, any elements that are set to hidden on page load are tagged with a [H], which makes it easy in many cases to see which items you may need to work with.

This Wrapper Class
Similar to the This Field Or... property, with the exception that instead of single field we can act upon all elements with the same Wrapper Class attribute. This makes it very easy to show and hide large portions of content with one action, perfect for address fields and the like.

Custom Conditional Field Statement
Although FormBoss tires to automate as much of the show/hide process as possible, their will be times when you need to have more complex logic. When this is the case, we can use the simple FormBoss API to create custom logic.

The bulk of this logic will be derived from a JavaScript object called fbc, which stands for FormBoss Conditional. This object is defined in:

/formboss-root/app/movefiles/conditional.js

Which is exported into the root of all FormBoss jobs.

The basic usage of this object will depend on what action you want to perform. That said, their are 4 methods you need to know about:

hideField, hideWrapper, showField, showWrapper

As shown in the editor, we call these methods as:

fbc.showField(event, 'FieldName', 'animation');

With a simple example to show a text box being:

if(value == '1'){
  fbc.showField(event, 'text2'); // animation argument is optional, event is not!
}

Simple enough--But it is important to understand that at the page code level FormBoss creates two distinct but related items.

The first is the event trigger which is placed inline with your form element. Please be aware the event used is not created automatically, you need to select one from the Event Trigger select item.

Thus, if we select the onKeyUp event FormBoss will place this code inline with your element:

onkeyup="fb_dyn_text1(event, this.value, this)"

Notice we have three arguments. This is important because the inline method call is directlly tied to the second main element FormBoss creates for you, which is a script tag with that methods definition.

This method looks like:

function fb_dyn_text1(event, value, elt){
  if(value == '1'){
     fbc.showField(event, 'text2');
  }
}

As you may now see, this method body is the code you create in the Custom Conditional Field Statement text area. The reason why it is wrapped in the method is to that you do not need to worry about creating or gathering the event, value, and elt parameters.

Thus, the last bit of knowlegde to convey is that these paramters, event, value, and elt, can be used in any way you need in your Custom Conditional Code. Most of the time you will only need the value parameter for your logic, but please notice you must pass event to the fbc functions no matter what.

Callbacks
New in Build 711, we now have a callback that's fired after an animation plays:

animationDone(elt)

We use this callback inline with our Conditional Code block as in:

fbc.animationDone = function(elt){
  alert(elt.id);
  // when animation is done, call resize function for iframe
  window.parent.resizeSubForm(getOutputSize());
}

That is, we call fbc.animationDone(elt), then in that function, define the actions to take place.

The elt parameter is the object that called the animation, that is, is the object which reacted to the event.

Please note this event is fired for every animation that plays. Thus, if we've used this in the content of a Wrapper Class with say, 5 elements, this function is called 5 times.

Element z-index
New to Build 697, this feature allows us to set the z-index of most items. This property is reflected in the editor as well, making positioning items much more streamlines than in previous versions.

By default most items, with the exception of calendar fields, have a base index of 1. This means so long as your form fields to not overlap you will not need to set this property. However, some fields, such as images or those with popup's (like the calendar field), benefit from setting a different layering order.

Text Color
Click into the box to load the color selector. Drag your cursor over the saturation in the main box to select the color intensity, or drag the hue slider to change color.

Font Size(px)
Type a number in this box to change the font size of the element.

Label Font Weight
New to Build 685, this option lets us set the font weight of the forms field label or main text block.

Label Position
Has no effect for this field. Might be implemented in later versions.

It is very important to note that validation behavior is handled in two places: the field itself, and in the fields containing page properties. Within the field, you can control the elements listed below, such as weather the field is required, the minimum and maximum number of characters, and so on. Within the page properties, you control the style of error, weather messages are displayed, and other such properties. One way to think of it is error handling per field item, and global error handling properties. FIeld item properties are specific to that element, global effects all error properties of that page.

For example, the default behavior of a field that is marked as required is to, when filled in improperly, highlight the field with a color you choose in the Page Properties Form Error Color. In other words, you set the field as required in the elements field properties, but you control the color of the error highlight in page properties.

For more information on what properties you can edit, please see the Form Style Properties and Page Properties of the Sortable and Fee-Form Page types.

Required
Check this box to make this field a requirement for successful form submission.

Required Star Color: In some instances you will want to change the color of the required star. To do so you can use one of two techniques:

Technique 1. Permanent change: Navigate to the formboss/app/movefiles/ folder and open the formpage.css file and look for the .req-star class definition. You can then change this color to fit your jobs needs. This change is permanent because every job you export will now use this style sheet file and definition.

Technique 2. Per Job Change: Click on the page header to bring up that page's attributes, then add the following style definition to the Page Javascript/Head Code code area:

<style type="text/css">
  .req-star { color:#dedede; }
</style>

This will override the style definition in the formboss.css file and use the color you specify.

Min
The minimum number of characters this field must possess. Validates if the field is required or not.

New in Build 706, for checkboxes, this is the minimum number of items that must be checked for the field to be valid. To set a specific number, set the min and max values to the same value.

Max
The maximum number of characters this field can contain. Validates if the field is required or not. If you wish to limit the number of characters a user can type, specify that value in this field. The user will not be able to enter more characters specified by that value.

For checkboxes, this is the maximum number of items that can be checked.

Regex Validation Rule
This is the Regular Expression rule to apply to this field. Used in required fields only. Choose from No Rule, Custom Rule, and a series of preset rules.

If you choose Custom Rule, you will be given a 'Custom Regex' box to populate with your own expression (please note only one expression can run on each element).

For example, you could use this to validate $45.23:

^\$[0-9]+(\.[0-9][0-9])?$

or without the dollar sign as in 45.23:

^[0-9]+(\.[0-9][0-9])?$

Same As
[Only used for Text and password fields] If populated, this element and the one specified must match to validate. Only effective if the field is required (the must match field need not be specified as required). Effective for user password and email address validation.

Validation Error Message
Type a custom message for validation here, in the event you select a 'Regex Rule' for the field. All other validation messages are handled by FormBoss.

Display Count Fields
[Only used for textarea elements] Select from No Counting, Words, or Characters. Select Words or Characters to display a Javascript based character/word counter at the base of your text area element. This item works in conjunction with the Max validation field, though if no value is set it defaults to 500 characters.

Tooltip Text
New in FormBoss 2 Build 685, this field lets us add tooltips to our form items.

The standard operating mode is if this field is left blank no tooltip will be shown. It is important to note that when set with any text the jQuery library will be automatically included in your forms output, as well as the text in this box will be shown as the tooltip for that form item. It is important to note this as while Prototype and jQuery play nice together in almosty all cases, should you include Prototype in your forms issues may arise.

One of the most powerful aspects of these toolstips is HTML is fully supported. In fact, this is why this field has a link to expand the editor to WYSIWYG mode.

Finally, please note that at this time checkboxes and radio items do not support tooltips.

Tooltip Effect
Choose the tooltip entry animation.

Tooltip Activation
This item determines the javascript event that shows the tooltip. By default text items are set to show when a text field is clicked on or tabbed to, and when select items are moused over. However, we can change this so all form items are activated with the onmouseover state.

Tooltip Position
The location the tooltip shows relative to the form element.

Relative Position
Related to Tooltip Position, this option allows us to override the default behavior of the tooltip being page relative. The default should work for almost all situations, though some free form pages may benefit from using Relative To Element.

Hide Delay (ms)
The time it takes in milliseconds for the tooltip item to hide. This is most often used when we want to allow users to click active content in the tooltip text.

Opacity
The level of opacity the tooltip possess. By default this is .9, which means 10% transparent.

X Offset
How far away the tooltip is positioned relative to the form element in the x direction (left and right).

Y Offset
How far away the tooltip is positioned relative to the form element in the y direction (up and down).

Background Color
The background color of the tooltip.

Text Color
The color of the text in the tooltip. This can be overridden by using the HTML editor and applying local styles.

Border Color
The color of the tooltip border.

Shadow Color
Applies to Webkit/Mozzila Browsers Only: The color of the tooltip's shadow.